Leadership / 06.15.18

Chairman Fair Ticketing Alliance: 'There's a New Breed of Brokers'

Access Staff

Original article published on Pollstar (06/15/18) by Gideon Gottfried

In an interview, Fair Ticketing Alliance (FTA) Chairman Stephen Lee says that he is witnessing the emergence of a new breed of honorable brokers, who he thinks should be allowed to participate in the ticketing ecosystem. He notes that promoters lack the expertise that the FTA has cultivated in the secondary market with its business models, with emphasis on certain risk models and dynamic pricing. "We know exactly what that ticket is worth at that time, and we make sure that we don't buy too many tickets to the detriment of fans trying to get them," Lee stresses. The new brokers employ economic models, risk models, dynamic pricing, exponential moving averages and other background statistics across a wide swath of businesses. The FTA has just issued its new code of conduct, setting guidelines for brokers that include a ban on bots, a mandate that brokers respect any restrictions artists and promoters impose on tickets, and a push for transparency. "We want to bring all the brokers onto this code, which lists that you must only list on compliant exchanges," Lee says. "You have to have the facility to put your business details in, seat number, face value and so on." Lee also notes that ticket exchanges must be in compliance with the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority, and the FTA has plans to secure a license for responsible secondary ticketing.

Read the full story on the Pollstar website.

Tags: Reselling , Regulations , News , Secondary Ticketing